Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Investors in the $591 billion high- yield, high-risk loan market are accusing Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of naked short selling to profit from record price declines.

At least two fund managers complained verbally to officials of the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, saying they believe Goldman helped drive down prices by using the technique, according to people with knowledge of the objections. New York- based Goldman is acting against its clients by trying to profit at their expense, the investors said.

A $171 billion drop in the value of the loans in the past year is pitting banks against investing clients on assets once considered so safe they typically traded at par. The drop exposed flaws in an unregulated market where trades can take from several days to months to settle and banks may have information unavailable to investors. In a naked-short transaction, a firm would sell debt it didn’t already own, betting the price will fall before it purchases the loan and delivers it to the buyer.

“The LSTA is closely monitoring issues of naked short selling,” Alicia Sansone, head of communications, marketing and education at the New York-based industry association, said in an e-mail.

Sirius XM Radio (SIRI: sentiment, chart, options) is being called on the carpet today by a group of concerned shareholders, with the organization -- known as "Save Sirius" -- issuing a list of demands to the company's board. The group is insisting that Sirius postpone a vote seeking shareholder approval to increase the number of shares in fully diluted float from 4.5 billion to 8 billion; that the company delay its proposed reverse stock split; and that all stock compensation plans and bonuses be suspended "until the return to these compensation plans would be commensurate with the concept of 'performance based compensation.'"

In a press release, Save Sirius mouthpiece Michael Harleib stated, "If the board continues with the scheduled vote, we will believe that to be a violation of their fiduciary duties and will have no choice but to seek injunctive relief."

The group sent its demands via certified mail, and have received confirmation of their delivery to the board. They're now awaiting a response from Sirius, which has seen its shares tumble 4% this morning to 25 cents.

Mark Cuban sued by SEC for insider trading
November 17, 2008
BY DAVID ROEDER Staff Reporter

The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and bidder for the Chicago Cubs, of insider trading Monday.

The SEC charged that Cuban dumped 600,000 shares of stock in an Internet search company, Mamma.com Inc., after learning in 2004 that it was raising money by issuing more shares.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban -- shown here at a Cubs game in April -- is being sued by U.S. regulators for illegal insider trading. Cuban has shown interest in purchasing the Cubs from the Tribune Company.

The charges could damage Cubanąs quest to acquire the Cubs. The sale of the team requires approval of three-quarters of Major League Baseball owners, many of whom already donąt like him because of his outspoken style.
Cuban knew about the offer because the company invited him to participate in it on the condition that he keep it confidential, the SEC said. Instead, Cuban phoned his broker and ordered him to sell his entire stake in the company to avoid losses in the share price, the agency said.

Issuing new shares dilute the holdings of existing stockholders and generally caused share prices to fall. The SEC charged that by trading on insider information

As Jamie Dlugosch mentioned a few days ago, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ: SIRI) shares are trading for less than a can of pop at the local gas station. The company, which just completed its merger this past summer, saw its biggest customer -- automakers -- fall on hard times just as it was poised to try and grow as a combined company. Timing is everything; if Sirius were operating back in 2006, it'd be just fine. But it is almost 2009 and the economy is in a world of hurt. So are consumer spending dollars and just about any automaker you look at.

That's a one-two punch for satellite radio. Although I've used satellite radio before, the talk radio and interruption-free decade channels were about it for me. Sirius is now shuffling channels, trying to find a better mix that newer customers would be drawn to, as well as eliminating DJs on some music channels to save costs. When the difference between pay radio and terrestrial radio starts diminishing, that is a signal of the end. Sirius can't expect to have lackluster music programming and a lack of actual DJ personality to be perceived as "better" to existing customers, who could turn off satellite forever and create their own music service with a $50 MP3 player.

Note to Sirius: millions of consumers already do this. They download new music, podcasts and other entertainment directly (and in many cases, for free) and listen to what they want on their portable device over their car stereo systems. Although Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin acknowledged that MP3 players, iPods and the like were large competitors to satellite radio, this time his company is probably seeing it in force as it cuts costs and erases one benefit after another that are supposed to come with the $13/month radio service. Satellite Radio will survive the economic downturn, but who knows if it will be a shell of itself with a declining customer base and even more piles of debt after it is all through.